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Bird name:

Sedge Wren

Cistothorus platensisOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Wrens (Troglodytidae)
Codes: Common Name: SEWR Scientific Name: CISPLA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178605
Least Concern
 
Sedge Wren Breeding Male
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Overview

Sedge Wren: Small wren with white-streaked, brown upperparts and pale buff underparts. Eyebrows are pale brown. Tail is short and barred. Bill is short and the legs and feet are pink. One of the most nomadic territorial birds. In any area it may be abundant one year, absent the next.

Range and Habitat

Sedge Wren: Breeds in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick south to Kansas, Missouri, and Delaware. Spends winters north to southern Illinois and Virginia. Found in dense marshlands and grasslands.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body


Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"chip-chip"

Interesting Facts

 The Sedge Wren is most often seen as it is flushed from grass and flies off, only to drop from view a few feet away.

 It is also known as the Short-billed Marsh Wren and the Grass Wren. There are about 20 different subspecies which are found across most of the Americas. Some of these forms may be separate species.

 The male often builds several unused nests in his territory; he may puncture the eggs of other birds nesting nearby.

 A group of wrens has many collective nouns, including a "chime", "flight", "flock", and "herd" of wrens.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

Splitbar
Range Map for Sedge Wren

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Family Wren (Troglodytidae)_blue
Species Cistothorus platensis
Length4.5 Inches
Wingspan5.75 Inches

Sedge Wren

Sedge Wren: Small wren with white-streaked, brown upperparts and pale buff underparts. Eyebrows are pale brown. Tail is short and barred. Bill is short and the legs and feet are pink. One of the most nomadic territorial birds. In any area it may be abundant one year, absent the next.

● Song: "chip-chip"

● Foraging & Feeding: Sedge Wren: Eats mostly insects and spiders; forages while scampering on the ground in wet meadows and in low brush.

● Breeding & nesting: Sedge Wren: Four to eight white eggs are laid in a nest made of stems, grass, and sedges, lined with plant down, feathers, and fur, and built up to 2 feet above the ground in grass. Incubation ranges from 12 to14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Sedge Wren: Marsh Wren is larger, darker, and browner overall, with longer bill, dark crown, and unbarred rufous rump.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flight with shallow, rapid wing beats, alternating serveral wing strokes with wings being drawn to sides, repeatedly.
Sedge Wren Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Sedge Wren: Breeds in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick south to Kansas, Missouri, and Delaware. Spends winters north to southern Illinois and Virginia. Found in dense marshlands and grasslands.
BreedingPolygamous
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.3 Ounces
Perching-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX